Insurance-vending machine



April 13 l926.- 1,580,331

- E. s. RICHARDS INSURANCE VENDING MACHINE Filed May 5. 1923 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 13 1926.

E. S. RICHARDS INSURANCE VENDING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Shoot 3 Filed my a. 1925 A ril: 13 1926. 1,580,331

E. S. RICHARDS INSURANCE VENDING MACHINE Z a i Patented Apr. 13,

nrnnams, RICHARDS, or LAKE rnovrnnnen, LOUISIANA.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, a citizen of the'Un-ited States, v in the parish of East Lake I Providence,

INsuRANoErvEN-nme MAomNia; V I

Application filed my 5,

ErH AIM resld ng at.

5- Garroll and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and useful Machine, of which the following is a. specification.

This invention aims means whereby strips of I pens'ed,sub1eot to doom-control, the-dev ce being of peculiar uti pap er may be ';d1s-' lityin, connection 1 with the vendiiig of insurance policies, a carbon copy of the policy being reta ned, and novel trolling the various structure;

means being supplied for operating a'n'cl con movable parts of the It is Within the province of the disc-lo sure to improve generally and to: enhance the 20 utility of devices of invention; appertains; I VVith the above andwhich will appear [as that type to which the other'objects in view, the descriptio ceeds, theinvention resides-in the combinadetails of constructio and claimed, it being tion and arrangement of parts and in the n hereinafter I described understood that}, within the scope of what is clannedflhanges in the preciseembodiment of I canb'e made without departing the invention shown from the spiritof the invention; I I 4. I I I In the aecoinpanying ClIZtWll'lgSt- Figure 1 shows in struc'ted 1n; accordan Figure 1; Figure 3 is removodin order the Figureii; Figure? 5' proximately on the? In carrying out Figure 2 is asection on l a top. plan, p'artsebe ngo t the-machinery Wltllll'l the invention,

top plan, a devicev 0011- II so with the I invention; the; l ne- 2ti2' of Figure; l'is a; section ine f; s n;- take P: 5-5 of Figure 2, there is i line provideda support or cabinet, whichiis' de noted by the numeral of oppositely slanting cabinet is made "upportions2 and I The-p'o'rtion'2 an opening 5 done, during Any sui a l ean supplied for coverin 3 i n ecte l by. v of the: top-"of! the cabinet has hrough wh ch he writing the filling; out ofv the policy;

a raised rib 4:.

. (not shown)- may be. g the opening 5 when the macli'ne is not n use, but since: the opr a nj of a: in-contr d me hanism est-re Qt any has? me Insurance-Vending I to" provide novel if desired, as shown in I sidev portions of the hon paper is wound on the reel 18 7 adapted There is 29 and 22.

The '00P of thefl-in theto' ofthecabinet,

1. spre ket h ele 1923'. swarm 636,906.

left to the taste of the manufacturer or user. The cabinet 1' carries a table 6 locatednear the opening 5. 'This policy whilst the same is being filled out. Separators 7 are carried by thetop or the cabinet and are locatedalong opposite edges of the opening, The utility of the separatable supports the tors? willbe lna'de manifest hereinafter,

A fr me- 8, issupportedlwithin the cabinet 1, the framebeing U-shafiped in cross section, I iglurej5l Shafts 9,

10, 1 1 "12 and 14 are. disposed horizontally in the cabinet Land are ournaled n the I framer8.r The shafts 10, 11 and 12am disposed in horizontal alinenent near the bottom of the. cabinet, The shaft-s 9 and 14 arelocated in, about the same horizontal plane and are disposed respec tively, above the. shafts 1.0 and-'12. The

shaft 11 is located between the shaft and r supply reel 15 is inounted onthe shaft 9. A take -up reel 16 is mounted on the shaft 14'. The strip 1'7 of paper on which the duplicate policy wound on'the-reel 15 and is adapted to be taken up by the reel 16. The shaft 10 carries a supply reel 18. reel 19v on the shaft12. A strip 20of carand is toibe taken up by thereel 19. a reel21 on the shaft "11. This reel carries tlie'strip 22 of paper on which the original policy is printed. The strips 17, 20 and 22, superposed in the order namethpass over idle" rollers 23 journaled in the upper p'ortionspf the f ra-nie8. They pass, also across the. table 6, beneath the opening 5. As Shown il l Fig ure 5, the separators '7 are interposed: between the strip which carrie's the original policy, and the strip '20 0 carbon paper, whilst the various strips 17, re passing across the opening 5 Vertically alined guide rol ers 24' and '25 are journaled on the frame 8 and are located slightly inadvance Of the pe' .i- 1e 5 h s r p 1 1.20 nd 22 P ss ng e w en the t' vll e n 251e i m ia esefo t y use e theopeni 5. Therol l}. is aceo nnrodated in: the rib 1% hati fa j iiened; i-i i tha O the eli e a ar mo d e a e. on .ihegsteafiea 1e, 11,12 nd .14 p l 3121 263 1 ha ll' 26 v is printed is v There is a take-up I [is en ged a e the sprocket wheels 75. Compression springs 27 surround the shafts and abut against the sprocket wheels 75 and against the frame 8. The sprocket wheels 75, thus are held frictionally against the various rollers, for instance, the rollers 16 and 19 of Figure 5, so that the sprocket chain 26 is actuated, the rollers will be rotated, the sprocket wheels being connected to the rollers and to the shafts by what amounts to a friction clutch. 'lluts 28 are threaded on the outer ends of shafts 9, 10, 11 12 and 14 and by turning these nuts, the shafts may be given a slight endwise movement, thereby to adjust the compressive effect of the springs 27.

A lever 29 is supported for vertical swinging movement in the cabinet 1, as shown at 30, that is, for swinging movement in a vertical plane. The lever 29 operates in a. sl t 31 in the top of the cabinet 1. Pivot elements 32 are carried by the lever 29 and operate in elongated slots 33 which are fashioned in converging levers 34 having coopcrating jaws 35 (Figure 4) at one end. At their opposite ends the levers 34 are pivoted to links 36, the inner ends of the links being pivotally united. When the lever 29 swings in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 2, the jaws 35 will be caused to grip and advance the strips 22, 20 and 17, because the pivotally connected inner ends of the links 36 are united by a connection 37 with the lever 29, the connection 37 being pivoted at 38 to the lever 29, and a toggle thus being afforded whereby the jaws 35 will be caused to grip the strips as aforesaid. Amplifying the foregoing, it may be stated that, although the jaws 35 .appear spaced a. trifle from the strips was made to avoid a confusion of lines, and to the end that the inner extremities of the jaws might be clearly seen. As a matter of fact, the jaws 35 drag with a frictional hold upon the strips, and, when the lever 29 is swung in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 2, the lever 29 first moves independently of the levers 34, because the pivot elements are received in the slots This independent movement of the lever 29 is small, and perhaps inapprcciable, but it is sullicient to permit the lever 29 to exert a pull on the connection 37, thereby tilting -the levers 34 by way, of the links 36, and

causing the jaws 35 to grip the strips. lVhen' the lever 29 swings in a direction opposite to that indicated by the letter A. in Figure 2, the hold of the jaws 35 on the strips 17, 20 and 22 will be released. In view of the construction last above described, a means for feeding the strips is provided, which means is independent of the rollers 16 and 19, and the strips are not fed by tension alone. Further, since the strip 22 has a free end, and is not operated by a takeup roll, the jaws 35 and parts associated-- in Figure 2, this showing" therewith have a peculiarly useful function. The edge of the top of the cabinet which is marked by the numeral 39 affords a means whereby the purchaser may tear off his policy from the strip 22, the carbon paper passing on to the take-up reel 19, and the duplicate policy passing to the take-up reel 16. A chain tightener 40 of any desired sort may be used for taking the slack out of the driving chain 26.

A coin chute 41 is mounted for longitudinal reciprocation and for tilting movement, in the part 2 of the top of the cabinet 1. The lower end of the coin chute 41 is pivoted at 42 to the lever 29. The coin chute 41 is supplied at its lower end with oppositely disposed openings 43 and 44 and has a concaved seat 41 at its lower end.

An arm 45 is pivoted at 46 to the lever 29 and is adapted to operate in the opening 43 of the coin chute 41. A link 47 is pivoted to the arm 45 and is pivoted to an arm 48 on a shaft 49 mounted to rock in the lever 29, the shaft having a dog 50 adapted to cooperate with the upper run of thesprooket chain 26. A very light spring 51 is connected to the lever 29 and bears on the arm 48. An ejector 52 is supported in the cabinet 1 and is adapted to enter the opening 43 in the coin chute 41.

lVhen a coin G is deposited in the coin chute 41, the coin rolls downwardly, tilting the arm 45, the link 47 rocking the shaft 49 through the instrumentality of the arm 48 and causing the dog 50 to engage the upper run of the sprocket chain 26, the coin being held on the seat 41 by the arm 45, as shown in Figure 4. Then, when thelever 29 is swung in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 1, the jaws 35 together with the reels 16 and 19, advance the strips 17, 20 and 22 with respect to the opening 5 in the top of the cabinet. The jaws 35 and the lever 29 may pull the strips ahead faster than the strips are fed off the rollers when the rollers are power-operated through the instrumentality of the chain 26 and the dog 50; and it is in order to prevent the strips from being torn apart, that the friction clutch afforded by the springs 27, is provided. The purchaser fills out his policy, writing through the opening 5, and tears elf his original policy across the edge 39 of Figure 1. When the lever 29'has been swung far enough in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 2, the ejector 52 enters the opening 43 in the coin chute'4l and knocks the coin out of the coin chute, through the lower end of the opening 43, whereupon'the dog 50 is disengaged from the chain 26 by the action of the spring 51 and it will be impossible for a person to operate the machine, and secure another policy, until a coin is deposited in the chute 41. During the dislodging of the coin O, the dog 50 simply enters a little further into the chain 26 but doesnotbind on the chain and prevent'the dislodging of the coin.

hat is claimed is g p 1. In a device of the class described, a support, feed and take-up reels journaled in the support, a flexible element connecting the reels, a lever fulcrumed'on the support,

a dog carried by the lever and normally, dis

engaged from the flexible element, means for operating the dog, a chute so located as to direct a coin against said means and retain the coin, thereby With the flexible element, and -means for displacing the coin'from the chute after the lever has been swung through a predetermined arc. l

" connecting the rec s,

to engage the dog.

2; In a device of the class described a support, feed and take-up reels journaled' in the sup ort, a flexible element a lever fulcrumed on the support, a dog carried by the lever and normally disengaged "from the flexible element, a chute pivoted to the lever and adapted so to dispose a coin that the coin v flexible elethe dog With the Will engage 'ector located in the path of ment, and an e] the chute and constituting means for dis-Q placing a coin from the chute after the lever has swung through a predetermined arc.

In, testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature.

- EPHRAIM S. RICHARDS. 

